


Smile Like You Mean It

by EvilMuffins



Category: Dangan Ronpa, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Secret Rendezvous, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22298176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilMuffins/pseuds/EvilMuffins
Summary: Kaito Momota was not a man who knew very much about art. He could of course still tell when something was beautiful, like the stars glimmering in the night sky above the dome, even if they had been told that it was all artificial.And then there was Maki Harukawa.
Relationships: Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Smile Like You Mean It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TeamMike](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamMike/gifts).



Kaito Momota was not a man who knew very much about art. He could of course still tell when something was beautiful, like the stars glimmering in the night sky above the dome, even if they had been told that it was all artificial. 

And then there was Maki Harukawa.

Kaito watched as Maki’s calloused fingers danced over the bits and pieces that had once been a part of a hand gun, and would soon be once again after the entire thing had been properly maintained. Although he nearly did wonder just why Maki would choose to clean a weapon that hadn’t been used, he then realised that it must be the same as when he would sit down to work on the Milk Puzzle that Shuuichi had given him. It was calming for her, a distraction from everything going on around them. 

The meticulous way that she worked was masterful to say the least and Kaito imagined that it must have been akin to watching Kaede at the piano, or Angie with a brush full of paint. Although neither student was with them any longer, sitting around moping wasn’t the answer. Enjoying life all the more for the sake of the students no longer with them _was_ , and Kaito couldn’t say that he was having an awful time at the moment. 

“ _What?”_ Maki paused with a spring in her hand and a frown on her face.

“Somethin' wrong, Harumaki?” 

“You’re never this quiet,” she stated flatly. “You didn’t shut your mouth once during our training session last night.”

Quickly, Kaito looked to Shuuichi for help. 

“She is right,” he agreed with a half-hearted shrug. Someone as quiet by nature as Shuuichi was probably wasn’t the one to turn to, on second thought. But that would be why he was only just the side-kick. 

“It’s just,” Kaito replied, scratching at the back of neck, “I can see why the kids always loved you so much.”

“‘ _Love_ ’ is a strong word…” With a final click, Maki had finished reassembling the gun. Glancing around the walls of her lab, she seemed to be deciding which weapon to disect next. 

“Strong people incite strong feelings!” Kaito announced with a grin, pumping a fist in the air.

“Momota-kun’s right,” Shuuichi nodded his agreement. 

Rather than her warming up to the sentiment, however, Maki’s frown only deepened. 

It wasn’t as if Kaito had never seen Maki smile at all before. A time or two during training, he had caught the corners of her lips twitching upward, mostly whenever Shuuichi’s arms would give out during a round of push-ups. 

One morning over breakfast, Kaito had told Maki that he thought she should try to smile more now and then. Apparently, however, that was something a man should never, _ever_ say to a girl, because the very suggestion of such a thing had launched Tenko into a lengthy and admonishing rant. Thankfully, the entire thing had quickly derailed when Gonta became concerned that gentlemen weren’t allowed to enjoy the sight of a smiling lady. 

There had to be another way. 

Shuuichi was always seen running around giving out presents like it was Christmas in October (or whatever month it had turned now since they had all been taken), but unfortunately Kaito was sheer crap at the MonoMono Machine. He usually just wound up eating whatever bizarre food it chucked at him, rather than foist it off on any of the others. A hero’s duty and all that. 

“It’s getting late,” Maki remarked, stretching her arms, before picking up the weapon and stowing it back into its slot along the wall. “I don’t think that we’ll have much time for training tonight.”

“That’s alright. I’m feeling pretty beat anyway,” Shuuichi agreed, voice filled with relief. 

“It’s good to take a great a break now and then!” Kaito announced, keeping his disappointment hidden. Despite what others what may expect from his boisterous personality, he could still tell as well as anyone else when someone was trying to get rid of him. He clapped Shuuichi on the back, nearly bowling him forward just as he stood. “Even if my sidekick needs to work on not staying up all night reading!”

Maki nodded in agreement, although the three of them all knew too well that Shuuichi spent more of his time worrying than doing something so relaxing. 

The trio soon went their separate ways, turning into their rooms for the night... Or maybe only an hour or two.

* * *

Maki leapt to her feet. The faint rustling on the other side of her door could have been nothing but the remaining Monokubs playing around again, but it didn’t pay to take chances given their situation. Besides, it wasn’t as if she were able to rest peacefully, despite the bed being considerably more luxurious than the cots at the orphanage had ever been. Maki couldn’t recall a single moment in her in life in which she hadn’t been on guard, the hairs prickling on he back of her neck or muscles tense with the anticipation of a target gaining the upper hand. 

A white slip of paper appeared beneath her door. Cautiously, Maki approached before gingerly picking it up between fingers. Immediately assured that it wouldn’t do anymore harm than perhaps a papercut, she unfolded it, reading the note to herself.

Raising a brow at the contents, Maki refolded the paper, slipping it into her skirt pocket before sliding her shoes on and heading back out her door. 

“I thought we all agreed that no one was up for a training session tonight,” Maki greeted Kaito with arms firmly crossed as she stood across from him in the courtyard. 

“This is a different kind of training, Harumaki!” Kaito insisted with a grin. “Didn’t you read my note?”

Letting her arms fall to her sides, Maki pat at her pocket, paper crinkling within. “Your handwriting is atrocious. ...And where’s Saihara?” She scanned the area for their friend, but he was no where to be found. 

“He’s uh…” Kaito’s hands slid into his own pockets, mirroring Maki’s stance until he finally settled on freeing up a hand in order to scratch at the tip of his nose instead. _What’s got him so nervous?_ Maki wondered. It wasn’t like him. “I thought it could just be the two of us this time.”

Maki couldn’t help a soft snort from escaping her. Saihara was a good friend--Maki was able to admit that to herself now--but he did have a tendency to slow down their training, even if Kaito did have some secret regiment in mind for the night. “So, what are we supposed to do?”

“First, lie down on the ground, flat on your back!”

“Really?” Maki sighed. Anywhere else, the ground would have been wet with dew at this time of night, but things were different under the dome, leaving the grass as soft and dry as the mattress in her room.

“Now, look up!” Kaito instructed from beside her, having just done the same. 

Instead, Maki pushed herself up onto her elbows, turning to look at Kaito. “Is this some sort of astronaut training?” She asked dubiously. Identifying stars certainly wasn’t going to keep them alive if another of their classmates decided to try something. 

“Nah, nothing like that!” Kaito assured her, and despite the darkness, the moonlight treated Maki to the earnest gleam in his eyes. “Just look up for a few minutes.”

Resigned to her fate, Maki let her head fall back into the grass. Twinkling and dancing just as they had back in the outside world, the stars were somewhat pretty, Maki had to admit. “So why are we doing this?” Maki pressed, more to the sky than to Kaito. 

“Aww sheesh… You’re really gonna make me say it, aren’t ya, Harumaki?” Kaito stalled, making Maki all the more curious. “The thing is, I get to see something pretty every time you smile, so I wanted to return the favor, that’s all.”

“...That’s cheesy,” Maki said, turning her head away from him, hoping to hide the slight tug at the corners of her mouth while the blades of grass tickled at her cheek. “And I still can’t see how this is meant to be training for anything.”

“It’s smile training!” Kaito declared triumphantly, as if he had just produced a clue to the latest case. 

Against her better judgment, Maki rolled over to face him. “I thought that Chabashira lectured you about how rude it is to tell girls they need to smile more.”

Kaito pouted. “This totally doesn’t count!”

Maki did smile then, she could feel it glowing on her face like a meteor streaking through the night sky. 

Immediately and on no uncertain terms did she decide the best way to hide it. Sitting up on her elbows, Maki leaned over Kaito, eclipsing her smile with his lips. 


End file.
